Last Flu Season Led to 80,000 Deaths

Federal public health officials are urging everyone six months and older to get vaccinated against influenza in the wake of last winter’s severe flu season, which resulted in a record high of 900,000 hospitalizations and more than 80,000 deaths.

“Last season illustrated what every public health official knows—influenza can be serious in people of all ages, even in the healthiest children and adults,” said U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, at a news conference Thursday. “It is critical that we focus national attention on the importance of influenza vaccination to protect as many people as possible every season.”

The press conference was held to highlight what officials see as disappointing flu vaccination coverage estimates in recent years. Over the last several flu seasons, coverage among children aged six months to 17 years has remained steady but fallen short of national public health goals, which are 80%. During the 2017-2018 season, coverage dropped by 1.1 percentage points overall, with young children aged six months to four years with a decline in vaccination coverage of 2.2 percentage points. Even with the drop, vaccination coverage was highest in this age group (67.8%) and lowest among children aged 13 to 17 years (47.4%).

The CDC estimates that 78.4% of healthcare personnel were vaccinated during the 2017-2018 season, up 15% since the 2010-2011 season. Vaccination coverage was highest (91.9%) among healthcare workers in hospital settings and lowest (67.4%) among those working in long-term care settings. The CDC’s FluVaxView site has a more in-depth breakdown of these statistics.